Measurement of thickness



Feb. 6, 1951 Q HERZOG 2,540,261

MEASUREMENT OF THICKNESS Filed Jan. 8, 1946 ZZ /0 2f 35 (IIIIIIIIII ATTORI Y Patented Feb. 6, 1951 Gerhard; Herzog', Houston, Texc, assignortov The-f Texas Company, New York, N; Y'.,. a: corpora',-

tion ofi Delaware` Application January 8, 1946, Seri'aIINo'. 63'9`g82'6 1 Claim.

This. invention relates tothe measurement of thickness and particularly to a device or an ap paratus for measuring accurately the thickness offa Wall of a curvedv object'such'- as a tube, pipe or vessel. The' principal'- object ofthe invention is theprovision off a device byk meansofwhich ai veryaccurate reading of thickness may be obtained andv which device isv also so` small that it can easily be used in places Where there is but lttleroom, such, for instance, as in the mea-suring ofthe Wall thicliness'ofV tubes which are4 disposedl ina parallel` bank ini a heat exchanger. The device isalso applicable inV the measurement of pipes ofi variousl shapes such as the return bendslusedinboilers and the like.V K

In-the U. S. Letters Patent'No. 2,349,429, grantedv May 23, 1944, to James Stein and myself.

a method has been disclosed for measuring. the Wall thickness of curvedY objects and which has been`V termed. the tangential method. In accordance with the disclosure in that` patent a beam. of penetrative radiation is directed tangentiall'y through the wall of the tube', pipe, or' other object to a radiation detector and the measuren mentoi the detected intensity ofthe radiation is an indication of. the wallI thickness.. The present invention also relates to the method.. of measuring wallv thickness wherein. penetrative radiation is1 passed. tangentially through. the. wall` to a. detector. The device oi` the present invention is. considerably smaller. and easier to handle in cramped or close quarters while at the same time the device is equally as sensitive; i'f` not more so, thanx that disclosed in the aforementioned patent,

In accordance with the invention anelongated supporting. member hassecuredtoA itat one end a holder containing a source of penetrative radiation such as gamma rays; andi mounted on thef ing the preampliers in this manner lossesin the cable are compensated. For calibration purposes a plurality of radiation absorber blocks of known absorption and different thicknesses may be inserted one at a time or in combination between the radiation source and the detector.

For a better understanding of the invention reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

2. Figure 1f is an elevational' side viewf showing the instrument in position on al pipe,

Figure 2 is.y an isometric View` of the-device,

Figure 20ris anr isometric' view of apair ofl` ea'f-libration` blocks'.

Figure 3y isacross` section through the holder' for'thesource of'radiation; and

Figure 4 is av setfoi` calibration curves'.

Referringv to-'the drawing# asupporting member lf3" preferably inthe shapeoff a channel for" maxd imum strength andv of a light Weight' metal such".y afs-aluminum has attached to it at theside'- at' one end a; holder l2 for a source of radiation. Asv` shownI more clearly in Figure 3` the holder |12 comprises essentially a block of metal such as l'eadcontaining an openingfor window I l! in which i'sI mounted a block i5:A of metal such as aluminum through which radiation may pass comparativelyl easily; Thel source of radiation which may be a needle of radium Iiiy is mountedinto blocksv |f2- and I .6- so that thegamma' rays frornthe radium may pass outwardly through thealuminum window I6. The block i2A being an absorber of the gamma rays serves to-prevent the rays from passing out of the block in other directions; A- cylindrical housing 2"!)i about oneinchin diameter is adapted to be securedirigidly'to'the side ofK the supporting member' lias-bymeans-of a pair of bolts 22- exf tending through a s-lot 2d"v in the supporting mem her and which, when tightened, hold the housing tightly againstl the support. The supporting member is preferablyy providedy with indicia 2-6 andV a small" projection Z'S'l on: the housing and withiir theslot 2e" provides a reference whereby the position ofthe housing* 2@ on the support' I9 can be adjusted in order that they device may be` used tomeasure-iifall3 thickness of tubesor pipe-of` various diameters, say; between two` inches and eight'inch'es;

Within the end of the housing 29 toward the radiation source lil is a radiation detector which may be-a Geiger-Mueller counter of about three' inches inlength. If desired au gamma ray counter may be used of the type disclosed in the U. S. Letters Patent of D. G. C. Hare, No. 2,397,071, issued March 19, 1946. As stated above, a preamplier may be disposed within the rear portion of the housing 28 back of the detector as shown, for instance, in the copending application of A. H. Lord, Jr., L. M. Evans, R. B. Heath and myself, Serial N o. 574,870, filed January 26, 1945, now Patent #2 536,131. The output of the preamplier is conducted through the exible cable 30 to an instrument 32 which includes suitable amplifier and integration circuits and a meter for indicating the intensity of the radiation reaching the detector from the source I8. For a disclosure of a suitable circuit reference may be had to the aforementioned copending application, Serial No. 574,870. In order that the head of the instrument, i. e., the supporting member I0, source it and housing 2Q may be manipulated easily and used at some distance from the meter 32, it may be found advisable to incorporate in the cable between the meter and the first preamplifier a housing 34 containing an intermediate amplier in order to compensate electrical losses in the cable.

In Figure 1 the instrument head is shown in position on a tube or pipe 3S the wall thickness of which is to be measured. The bracket I0 is disposed at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the pipe 36 and in tangential contact with the pipes outer surface, the radiation source holder or block I2 being also preferably in contact with the surface of the pipe as shown. The bolts 22 will be loosened and the detector housing 2t clamped to the supporting member at a position corresponding to the outside diameter of the pipe as indicated by the scale 26. A gamma ray beam from the source f8 will pass through the wall of the pipe 35 to the detector and will be weakened due to absorption in the material ofthe pipe Wall. This beam is indicated by the dotted lines 33. The amount of weakening or absorption will depend, of course, upon the amount of material and therefore on the thickness of the wall. The measurement of intensity of the transmitted beam by the meter 32 can therefore be used as an indication of the wall thickness.

In Figure 2a are shown a pairI of solid blocks of dierent thicknesses and of a suitable metal such as brass. One or both of these blocks can be inserted in the space between the radiation source holder I2 and the detector which is set at a predetermined position on the supporting member I0. Thereby a known amount of reduction of intensity in the gamma ray beam will be obtained and this can be used as a standard in Calibrating the instrument.

Another method of obtaining a standard calibration consists in locating the housing 20 at a given position on the supporting member II), for example, twd inches and noting the meter reading, this, of course without the presence of any pipe or other absorbing medium between the source holder and the detector. If the instrument is operating properly the reading must equal that indicated for Zero wall thickness in a calibration curve of the type shown in Figure 4 for a two inch pipe. a diiierent setting of the housing such, for eX- ample as eight inches, a new meter reading being obtained and checked against the calibration curve as set forth above.

In Figure 4 a set of calibration curves is shown This can be repeated for in which for various thicknesses of iron the reading of the meter 32 is plotted for pipes of various thicknesses of from 2% inches to 81/2 inches outside diameter.

It has been found that with the arrangement described, in which a Geiger-Mueller counter of three inch length and one inch diameter is used as the detector, a source of one mg. of radium is satisfactory. With calibration curves as shown inFigure 4, for instance, available, the housing 20 is attached rigidly to the supporting member IB by placing the indicator 28 at the scale mark 26 corresponding to the outside diameter of the pipe to be measured and the reading then taken with the pipe in tangential contact with the supporting member and the lower inner edge of the holder I2 as shown in Figure 1.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the invention, as hereinbefore set forth, may be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, but only such limitations should be imposed as are indicated in the appended claim.

I claim:

A device for measuring the wall thickness of a curved object comprising an elongated supporting member, a holder containing a source of gamma ray radiation mounted on the side of said supporting member, an elongated detector of said radiation mounted longitudinally on the same side of the supporting member as said source and separated from the source so as to provide a space therebetween, the object to be measured being adapted to be placed in said space against the supporting member and source and at right angles to the supporting member so that radiation from the source will pass tangentially through the object to said detector, the mounting means by which the detector is attached to the source being adjustable so as to control the length o said space whereby objects of diierent sizes can be accommodated and their wall thicknesses measured, a meter connected to the detector for indicating the intensity of the radiation transmitted through the object to the detector, and means for Calibrating the device comprising a plurality of radiation absorbing members of diierent thicknesses, said absorbing members when inserted singly or collectively between the source and detector serving to reduce the intensity oi transmitted radiation by a known amount.

GERHARD HERZOG.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,094,318 Failla Sept. 28, 1937 2,315,819 Schlesman Apr. 6, 1943 2,349,429 Herzog et al. May 23, 1944 2,370,163 Hare Feb. 27, 1945 2,462,088 Friedman Feb. 22, 1949 

